Class Mom

I had the privilege of joining Dayna and her class on their field trip yesterday. We got a tour of Memorial Stadium (home of the Huskers) and the Nebraska State Capitol building. Unfortunately, I did not see Coach Mike Riley at the stadium. I'll have to stalk him another time :) We did, however get to watch 3 different bills get passed by the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature and meet our own State Legislator during lunch.

4th Grade pick-up game on Tom Osborne field

Admiring the rotunda

Chinese New Year 2015 - The Year of the Ram/Sheep/Goat

I love getting pictures of the girls in their silk dresses. We had a lot of fun at the Families with Children from China party this year. We prepared Annie by watching Lion Dance videos ahead of time, as well as providing her with some sound blocking ear buds. As a result, she enjoyed the lions this year!

Check out this video for some amazing lion dance action.

Singing her Chinese song for the crowd

I love how protective Dayna is of her little sister here.

Preparing for Chinese New Year

While I did NOT clean my house meticulously from top to bottom to sweep out last year's bad luck, we did follow a few traditions to prepare for Chinese New Year.

Like haircuts:

Annie may or may not have taken scissors to her own head just days before this happened.

Don't know why I didn't snap an after, but Dayna is sporting some lovely long layers now.

Our new friend Shirley invited us to her home to color banners to hang on our door.

Valentine's Day 2015

Every year, Dan gets dressed up and takes the girls out for a special Valentine's breakfast. Since the holiday fell on a Saturday this year, they were a little later than usual. Apparently, the owner of the local cafe was waiting for them and excitedly told Dan when they walked in, "I was hoping you would come!"

Dayna made a special Valentine's treat for her hamster

My dad never fails to send his girls a Valentine and a Whitman's sampler.

Silliness and Smiles

This little girl and I have had some great mommy/daughter moments this month.

Dressing up like Mommy

Working on curls and painting with Q-tips

 

My curly girl

I love that the Hello Kitty family is multi-racial.

Me? I didn't sneak into your chocolate. And I would NEVER rub it all over my face.

Aloha Ei

Dayna did a great job for her 4th grade State Report. She even dressed the part!

What I've Been Doing - February Edition

I think I'm officially hooked on socks.

Pattern : Tea and Scandal

Yarn: Madelinetosh Sock - Color: Tart

Snow Days

It's been a snowy, beautiful February around here. Nothing like the East Coast has experienced...but just enough for us.

Playing School

I love watching my girls play together. Dayna has worked hard on teaching Annie in their "bunk bed school."

Thoughts from a Mama's Heart

Sharing this with Dayna's permission. Just some mommy reflections.

I had a chance to see things through my daughter's eyes today. I was in her 4th grade class this afternoon, and the students had a project involving gleaning pictures from old magazines. It didn't take long for many of the students to stumble across ads for Smile Train/Operation Smile. The reactions happened quickly, and in this order:
1) Ew...that's so ugly
2) (to my daughter) Is that what you looked like?
(thus, in her mind, she became ugly to her classmates, although that's NOT what they meant....just poor filters and slow processing on their part.)

I tried to kindly and matter-of-factly answer their questions, and took my daughter's personal story out of it. Still...she has some bruises on her tender heart this afternoon that we're talking through. I love that she knows the hearts of her friends, and that they didn't mean to hurt her. But my heart still hurts for her.

We see these faces and see children. Sometimes we forget that those who don't look into these faces on a regular basis see something that is "broken."